Great acting from the two leads. Hard to look at Claire Danes without thinking of how much of a whiny little bitch she was on "My So Called Life", but she's past that here as a really high strung, possibly psychotic CIA analyst with a hard on for taking Major Dick Winters...er...Damien Lewis down as someone who has been turned to an al-Queda agent.

Lewis is a total ball of phuqued up himself as a Marine Sgt sprung after eight years of captivity, trying to adjust to life back at home; kids he barely knew who are now teens/pre-teens, and a wife who was days away from announcing that she was moving in with the thought-to-be-dead hubby's best buddy, who she has been boning for awhile.

(and let me just say how incredibly awesome it was to see Morena Baccarin totally naked...I have been lusting for that day ever since I first saw her in "Firefly").

Spent half the episode hating Danes' character, just because I WANT to believe in Dick Winters.

Oops.

So where will the show go? Brody HAS been turned...or at least brainwashed, but you can tell how conflicted he is. Do they make him the bad guy the whole year, or do they do what I'm hoping they do, and hold out hope that he can snap out of it?

All I know is that this is the one new show that has potential to not suck.

I don't have Showtime, so I'll be catching it on DVD or off the net, but I have a hard time getting a different picture out of my head. The one of Danes "freshening up". That and while I loved seeing the V chick, sometimes I think these shows go to far with making it raw, when its just not required.

Otherwise compared to most trash out there, this seems promising.

"When a man with money meets a man with experience, the man with experience leaves with money and the man with money leaves with experience."

Finally got around to watching it last night after a rather interesting weekend/week.

Did NOT see that twist coming.

Definitely a surprise, but yet one that doesn't feel like a total cheat. I went back in my mind to all of the flashbacks that Brody had involving Walker, and I can see where and why they were screwing with his head.

Finally got around to watching it last night after a rather interesting weekend/week.

Did NOT see that twist coming.

Definitely a surprise, but yet one that doesn't feel like a total cheat. I went back in my mind to all of the flashbacks that Brody had involving Walker, and I can see where and why they were screwing with his head.

5 episodes to go...and I think more twists are coming.

I watched the first seven episodes over the course of last couple weeks. Wasn't going to but it was warmly received here.

Good show. Nice mid-season twist. Not sure it's sustainable as a series though after one season. I mean, they could. Shit, they did it with The Killing from what I heard. But I stopped w/The Killing and I wouldn't watch another season of this show either. They'd compromise the integrity of the original plot too much, in my opinion.

This thing has played out more as a mini-series than anything else. Which is interesting considering it's already been picked up for a second season.

I have no freaking idea how this might end this year. From the previews, we know Brody has the suicide vest, and the Walker sniper guy is just there to blow someone away (the power broker woman who held the party when Brody was first floated as a Congressman?)...which will force a bunch of bigwigs into an enclosed area to end up as wall-pizza.

Do they really have the balls to have Brody successfully flip the switch? Since these are some of the same guys behind "24", it wouldn't completely shock me to see them try to out-do the first season murder of Teri Bauer.

My only real guess for Season 2 is that Carrie gets her job back after being the only one who figured this whole thing out...and that her stuffed shirt boss either gets killed or takes the fall for this major eff up.

That said, the characters are strong enough they could probably pull off a storyline completely void of Brody featuring just the hunt for fake Bin-Laden.

I agree.

Perhaps Brody is Season One's "Big Bad" like Dexter always tends to have (shut up, Mitch, and quit bitching about how much Dexter has sucked since Trinity was killed).

Not that I'd want to see that formula repeated every year with one target to track down and a Final Solution each year...but if it's done well, then it wouldn't be the worst thing in the world. And actually spending the entire season humanizing the Big Bad, and making you wonder for 75% of the season if he really IS "the enemy"?...well played.

Yeah, I thought the finale was very well done. Lays out the reasoning behind him being turned, then he actually tries to do it and has technical difficulties. Very tense scenes. And sets up a great plot line for season two.

As good of a new show as I've seen in a long time. Well done Showtime.

"It's like dating a woman who hates you so much she will never break up with you, even if you burn down the house every single autumn." ~ Chuck Klosterman on Browns fans relationship with the Browns

There were a thousand excuses they could have come up with to have him not do it, but using an insane Claire Danes (playing the role really effin well) to convince his daughter to call him was about as creatively perfect as they could have handled keeping Brody around.

Not to mention that I was actually rooting for him to flip the switch both times just to vindicate Carrie/Danes, which is impressive.

e0y2e3 wrote:Not to mention that I was actually rooting for him to flip the switch both times just to vindicate Carrie/Danes, which is impressive.

Yeah, damn good first season.

I found myself on that boat as well.

The interesting part was Brody's taped "statement", and you may see where the writers might be going with this.

He doesn't see himself as an Islamic terrorist...he sees himself as a US Marine, doing battle against "domestic enemies" of the country. Now that may be just a poor rationalization on his part, but I think it shows how he might be changed at some point.

As mentioned, Danes is just incredible in this show...but Damien Lewis and the girl playing his daughter also knocked it out of the park last night with their performances.

swerb wrote:I forgot about the fact that his taped statement was missing, with the extra chalk line there. Who's got it?

Was under impression Moore had it and likely that Naziri does now.

And agree with Mitch: the girl that plays Dana was tremendous last night. The pensive walk down the hall way when Brody was putting on the vest, the mannerisms on the porch and on the roof. Just very well acted.

Thought both Virgil and Saul were excellent in the finale too.

I will say this: Brody's wife is hot, but she's the worst actor on the show.

Just started watching on Showtime On Demand. Through the first two eps.

Wow! Riveting. Great plot device having Danes be able to see into the POW's home. She plays one helluva screwed up character. Mandy's great, and so is the POW guy. (And Morena Baccarin looks much hotter with longer hair versus her "V" alien mama.)

Haven't read any comments past the first mention of "twist" above, because I don't want to spoil it for myself.

Gotta get through 10 more eps before April 4th when they're coming off On Demand. At least I don't have to worry about renting DVDs now.

eh, I got half way and quit. It isn't bad but I have a hard time seeing a guy steeped in the group dynamics of the armed forces being turned. Especially once "out" (granted I only made it halfway). The other is the robust domestic activity of the CIA, um not so much, at least as open as they seem to be operating...

"When a man with money meets a man with experience, the man with experience leaves with money and the man with money leaves with experience."

Orenthal wrote:eh, I got half way and quit. It isn't bad but I have a hard time seeing a guy steeped in the group dynamics of the armed forces being turned. Especially once "out" (granted I only made it halfway). The other is the robust domestic activity of the CIA, um not so much, at least as open as they seem to be operating...

Are they getting in firefights while driving black SUVs that say " NOT THE CIA" on the side?

Orenthal wrote:eh, I got half way and quit. It isn't bad but I have a hard time seeing a guy steeped in the group dynamics of the armed forces being turned. Especially once "out" (granted I only made it halfway). The other is the robust domestic activity of the CIA, um not so much, at least as open as they seem to be operating...

Good lord, talk about odd standards.

And toward the end they do address why he was turned. Kind of the major point of the whole season.

Orenthal wrote:eh, I got half way and quit. It isn't bad but I have a hard time seeing a guy steeped in the group dynamics of the armed forces being turned. Especially once "out" (granted I only made it halfway). The other is the robust domestic activity of the CIA, um not so much, at least as open as they seem to be operating...

Good lord, talk about odd standards.

And toward the end they do address why he was turned. Kind of the major point of the whole season.

You are 100% correct on the standards.

eh the actors who suck have been pointed out already, and I qualified that it wasn't bad. In another thread you asked for my opinion on some things, so I kinda stayed topical. Otherwise the show is entertaining I just have ADD and bad taste when it comes to TV. I would flip from this show to watch Commando so my opinion shouldn't matter much.

"When a man with money meets a man with experience, the man with experience leaves with money and the man with money leaves with experience."

Like "24" but with a slower narrative pace and deeper character development—which is good. Agree with the other posters here about the excellent acting.

Season Two should be a barn-burner. Looking for the writers to wrap up the Brody saga by the end of the second season. Then, if it's renewed for Season Three, they could attack some other terrorist organization, or go after Abu Nazir himself.

Just a guess, but maybe Carrie will return as a CIA contractor rather than a full-fledged agent—thanks to her figuring out when and where the assassination attempt was to take place. Not with "Top Secret" security clearance, but maybe one level lower ("Secret"). She'll still have Saul in her hip pocket, though. Just a guess.

I didn't care for it. Unlike 24, which was obviously overblown and insane, they try to be realistic. But there's a lot of stuff in there that just isn't realistic, so it makes me be "that guy" that sits there and points out inaccuracies. I hate being that guy, but there's some blatant errors in there that they try to play off and it pisses me off. Just didn't care for it overall.

You cannot help men permanently by doing for them what they could and should do for themselves-----Abe Lincoln

Let me tell you, if any of you douchebag empty headed stuffed suit nanny politicians tries to fuck with my bacon, I’m going after you like a crazed chimpanzee on bath salts. -----Lars